Scope and Content Note
The Ernest Bloch Collection covers the life and careers of the Jewish Swiss-born violinist, composer, conductor, and photographer, beginning with his grade school report cards, dated 1888 through 1894, and continuing beyond his death in 1959 with the publication of some musical works and exhibitions of his photography. Music having been the primary focus of his life, Bloch's photographic skills are lesser known. Oregonians are more familiar with this aspect of his life owing to several exhibitions of his output by the Center for Creative Photography in Portland. The Collection includes manuscripts (music and lecture material), correspondence, business papers, photographs, programs, promotional material, writings about Ernest Bloch, personal papers, printed matter, and the material donated by Carolyn Epes.
Totaling nearly 200 items, the collection of Bloch Music Manuscripts is comprehensive in scope of his output. One of his more popular works, Schelomo, is not represented in this collection, but a score of the piece is available in the Moldenhauer Archive at the Library of Congress. The intense pride Bloch held in his Jewish heritage is demonstrated in his Israel Symphony (1912-1916), the Three Jewish Poems (1913, mentioned earlier), and the Avodath Hakodesh (Sacred Service) (1933); these and several other works on Jewish themes are represented in the collection. There are only two scores represented in the Manuscript Transcriptions of Works by Others sub-series.
The Correspondence series is divided into two subseries: Personal Correspondence and General Correspondence. Personal Correspondence includes letters, postcards, invitations, and telegrams from family members and close friends. Other letters and related material are filed in the General Correspondence subseries. At the end of the correspondence file are two smaller subseries of material: Special Category (Bloch letter drafts, Bloch letter to anonymous singer, and unidentifiable items, and Miscellany, which contains folders of envelopes and also two letterpress books of professional correspondence. Correspondents include Ernst Bacon, Harold Bauer, Albert Carré, Elizabeth S. Coolidge, Olin Downes, Carl Engel, the Flonzaley Quartet, Abe Fortas, Sidney Griller, Willem Mengelberg, Yehudi Menuhin, André Messager, Eduard Mörike, Pierre Monteux, Gabriel Pierné, Carlos Salzedo, Max Schillings, Leopold Stokowski, and Stefan Zweig.
The Business Papers series encompases the business affiliations of Ernest Bloch and his son, Ivan, and is divided according to organization. The series includes contracts, business correspondence, royalty statements, and miscellaneous items; however, where organization files contain a great variety of materials, additional subject headings further divide them. The arrangement is alphabetical by name of organization, then alphabetical by subject heading, and then chronological when date is known. This arrangement scheme is used to organize the business papers of both Ernest Bloch and Ivan Bloch.
Divided by subject and arranged chronologically, the Photographs series is fairly small, considering that Bloch was also a skillful photographer. Photos depict Bloch alone (usually portraits) or Bloch family members. Of special note, there is a photograph of Ernest Bloch with composer Roger Sessions.
Beginning in 1908 and continuing through 1980, the Programs series is arranged chronologically.
The Writings series is divided into four subseries: Biographical Writings, Clippings, Articles in Serials, and Articles and Clippings in Scrapbooks.
The Ernest Bloch Legal, Financial, and Miscellaneous Documents series houses some personal documents of Ernest Bloch and two other members of the Bloch family: wife Marguerite Elizabeth Auguste Bloch (née Schneider) and daughter Suzanne Bloch. Subdivided into two groups, Ernest Bloch Papers and Papers of Other Family Members, this series includes Bloch's grade school report cards, passports, marriage certificate, and the birth certificate of Marguerite Bloch.
The Printed Matter file, which is the final series in the collection proper, consists of one volume of printed music containing Bloch selections, promotional material (a small group of brochures, announcements, and flyers that promote Ernest Bloch and his work), one literary volume titled Darwin, Marx, Wagner by Jacques Barzun, and a folder of miscellaneous loose items.
The material in the Carolyn Epes / Ernest Bloch Collection follows the same arrangement scheme as the larger collection. The Music Manuscripts series includes only one item: a copy of the piano-vocal score to Bloch's anthem America. There are no business papers or personal documents included with this material; however, all other series are represented.
Contributors to the processing of this collection include Lloyd A. Pinchback, music specialist, and Tim Bullard and Mike Ferrando, library technicians, and Music Division staff members.
Lloyd A. Pinchback, June 1995